An unwelcome underdog label

FOXBORO, Mass.

The New England Patriots are underdogs everywhere but in their own locker room.

They surprised doubters all season to reach Sunday's AFC championship game in Pittsburgh and they're ignoring the oddsmakers who say the Steelers should beat them.

"I don't allow people to tell me what I am," Patriots linebacker Bryan Cox said Tuesday. "If that was the case, I would be dead or in jail."

He might not feel like an underdog, but Pittsburgh does have the league's No. 1 defense, No. 3 offense and home-field advantage. That adds up to a huge edge over the Patriots, who were ranked 19th in offense and 24th in defense.

But the Patriots (12-5) also have confidence gained in several come-from-behind wins. The biggest was last Saturday night's 16-13 overtime victory over the Oakland Raiders on a snow-covered field.

So a team that went 5-11 last season and started this season with poor playoff prospects and two losses, puts little stock in predictions of its demise.

"I've been an underdog all my life. Ever since I was playing defensive tackle at Roseville (Calif.) High School, people have been doubting me," linebacker Tedy Bruschi said. "Underdog is a role that I feel comfortable in.

"There are a lot of guys in this room that have chips on their shoulders for being underdogs for a long period of their careers."

Steelers still favored

The Steelers (14-3) were favored by nine points Tuesday and with good reason. They're 14-2 in their last 16 games, dominated the defending champion Baltimore Ravens 27-10 last Sunday and have an aggressive defense and a strong offense led by quarterback Kordell Stewart.

The Patriots, despite winning their last seven games, needed overturned calls to beat Buffalo and Oakland, both in overtime, in two of their last four wins.

"Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good because sometimes you can be good and get beat and sometimes you can be lucky and win," Cox said.

Some Patriots understand why the Steelers are favored even though the point spread may be irrelevant to the final score.

"We should probably be the underdog because Pittsburgh's a great team," kicker Adam Vinatieri said. "Their record's better than ours. Statistically, they're the best defense in the league. I can understand why we are the underdogs.

"That doesn't bother us too much. Bottom line is we have to go out there and if they're going to beat us they're going to have to do it on the field," he added. "I don't care how many points underdog we are. It doesn't really matter. We've been there a lot this year already."